These data pertain to behavior trials conducted on three different species of invasive carp in a laboratory setting between the dates of 29 April 2021 to 14 December 2021. The three species tested were grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon Idella), bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp (H. molitrix). The amino acids L-alanine, L-arginine, L-aspartic acid, and L‑glutamic acid were selected for this study to analyze how exposure may impact fish behavior, with a specific focus on avoidance and attraction. Each trial involved two individuals of the same species being exposed to one amino acid and a control water. Water inputs were on each end of the long exposure chamber and drained in the center to maintain a delineation between amino acid and the control water. For each combination of species (3 total) and amino acid (4 total), we performed 10 replicates, totaling 120 trials with each trial utilizing two fish (240 individuals). The chamber and fish were recorded from overhead video cameras and fish movement and position within the chamber determined using tracking software. After the software provided the initial tracking analysis, additional manual tracking was done to address any errors that occurred due to fish overlap. Of the 120 trials conducted, 69 trials, 5 to 7 from each combination of species × amino acid, were randomly chosen and manually examined and tracked, thus fixing identity swapping for those trials. The complete set of data were not manually tracked due to limited resources; questions related to average location could still be answered without tracking the identity of each fish.

Using juvenile individuals of 3 species of carp (Family: Cyprinidae), we tested the potential for six amino acids to elicit an extracellular electro-olfactory response within the naris using gelatin-based electrodes. The amino acids L-alanine, L-arginine, L-aspartic acid, L-asparagine, L-glutamine, and L‑glutamic acid were tested on Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Bighead Carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), and Silver Carp (H. molitrix) to provide a comparison among amino acids both within and among species. Each row in the data set represents exposure to a single amino acid. Each individual fish was exposed to up to four amino acids sequentially in a random order, representing a trial; each individual was a subject for exactly one trial. The response metric was the measured response peak, in millivolts, corrected by subtracting the mean baseline during exposure to well water 60 seconds prior to the amino acid response. The baseline-corrected, absolute value of the response to ultrapure, deionized (UDI or “Nanopure”) water immediately preceding a trial is also included. Other relevant factors that could influence measured individual response, such as number of times electrodes were repositioned within a trial (n = 4 repositions across 76 trials), nominal concentration of amino acid solutions, fish mass, holding tank temperature, and flow rate of water and amino acid solutions over the naris are included. Identifying data, namely date of trial and an individual subject ID (equivalent to a trial ID), are also included.

This data was generated from a study in which five experiments were conducted that tested whether and how dissolved chemicals might assist food recognition in two filter-feeding fishes, the silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and the bighead carp (H. nobilis). The buccal-pharngeal pumping (BPP), a behavior in which fish pump water into their buccal cavities, was observed in both silver and bighead carps after exposure to a a variety of food filtrates and mixtures. In addition, occlusion experiments to determine if the olfactory sense has a very important, but not exclusive, role in bigheaded carp feeding behaviors were conducted.

This data was generated from a study in which five experiments were conducted that tested whether and how dissolved chemicals might assist food recognition in two filter-feeding fishes, the silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and the bighead carp (H. nobilis). The buccal-pharngeal pumping (BPP), a behavior in which fish pump water into their buccal cavities, was observed in both silver and bighead carps after exposure to a a variety of food filtrates and mixtures. In addition, occlusion experiments to determine if the olfactory sense has a very important, but not exclusive, role in bigheaded carp feeding behaviors were conducted.

This dataset contains a combination of physiological and behavioral approaches for characterizing the response of bighead and silver carp to potentially attractive chemicals associated with sex pheromones identified in common carp. The dataset contains eight tables: 1) EOG responses from untreated and masculinized silver carp to prostaglandins, 2) mixture discrimination indices of the prostaglandins tested with the EOG, 3) relative distribution (percentage) of initial behavioral/attractiveness tests of individual PGF’s to silver carp, 4) release rates of prostaglandin mixtures from PGF2α-implanted bigheaded carps, 5) relative distribution (percentage) of masculinized silver carp to PGF2α-implanted carp odors, 6) relative distribution (percentage) of masculinized silver carp to prostaglandins found in PGF2α-implanted carp odors, 7) supplemental data: initial studies of EOG responses from untreated silver carp to prostaglandins, 8) supplemental data: EOG responses from masculinized and untreated silver carp to prostaglandins.

This dataset contains a combination of physiological and behavioral approaches for characterizing the response of bighead and silver carp to potentially attractive chemicals associated with sex pheromones identified in common carp. The dataset contains eight tables: 1) EOG responses from untreated and masculinized silver carp to prostaglandins, 2) mixture discrimination indices of the prostaglandins tested with the EOG, 3) relative distribution (percentage) of initial behavioral/attractiveness tests of individual PGF’s to silver carp, 4) release rates of prostaglandin mixtures from PGF2α-implanted bigheaded carps, 5) relative distribution (percentage) of masculinized silver carp to PGF2α-implanted carp odors, 6) relative distribution (percentage) of masculinized silver carp to prostaglandins found in PGF2α-implanted carp odors, 7) supplemental data: initial studies of EOG responses from untreated silver carp to prostaglandins, 8) supplemental data: EOG responses from masculinized and untreated silver carp to prostaglandins.

The data represent the common proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic amino acid composition of eight baits, both agriculture and organismal that are anticipated for testing Black Carp and Grass Carp attraction. Baits were identified based on prior literature on species diet and reported use in commercial fisheries. The data also include the crude protein value of each bait type.

Sample information associated with this project. There are tabs for light trap sample data, larval tow sample data, and one for lab-generated controls associated with running these samples.

Data set includes water Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O for the Mississippi River and tributaries, and otolith Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O data from bigheaded carp (Silver Carp and BIghead Carp) collected in navigation pools 16-19 of the Upper Mississippi River in 2016 to 2018. Bigheaded carp (Bighead Carp and Silver Carp) are invasive species in the US and have spread throughout most of the lower Mississippi River Basin. Population abundance upstream of Lock and Dam 19 (LD19) on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has likely been limited by the high-head dam at this location, which restricts all upstream fish passage to the lock chamber. To determine early-life environments of adult bigheaded carp captured upstream LD19 at the invasion front, in an area of intense management (Pools 16-19), we measured otolith (lapillus) stable isotope composition and elemental microchemistry of 146 Silver Carp (n = 77 females and n = 69 males) and 141 Bighead Carp (n = 76 females and n = 65 males). Otolith oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) and elemental ratios (Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca) were compared to values of isotope and elemental ratios in water from putative early-life environments to assign early-life environment for each fish.

Sensory input and systems are critical for organisms to respond to their environment, allowing movement to suitable habitat and potential escape from predators. While many stages of grass carp ontogeny have been described, neurosensory development remains unclear. Using behavioral tests, we looked at phonotaxis and chemotaxis from initial gas bladder inflation to the development of the second gas bladder chamber (the period during which larvae leave the drift and move into nursery areas). Rheotaxis was examined from hatch through gas bladder inflation by quantifying orientation in a laboratory flume.